Cheltenham Architecture - Part 3

Beyond all the Regency architecture that Cheltenham is usually associated with, there is a wealth of interesting buildings from other periods too. Here are a couple in the town centre, both on Winchcombe Street and both currently unused.

Next door to Cheltenham Cycles is an extensive Victorian building, originally constructed as a corn warehouse but more recently housed the Axiom arts centre. I recall being on the waiting list for a studio space here when it closed down. I think it was around 2000 when it sadly shut for good.

Axiom Centre - Cheltenham

It is a real shame that such a fantastic building right in the town centre has been left unused for so long and it would be great for Cheltenham if it was redeveloped once again as an arts centre. The frontage onto the street is especially good looking, with satisfying symmetry and colourful and varied brickwork. If you want to find out more about the history of this building then http://www.gsia.org.uk/reprints/2002/gi200255.pdf is a good place to start.

Detail of the fantastic brickwork.

Another pleasing but also empty building on the same street is the old Odeon cinema which closed not long after Cineworld opened as part of the horrible Brewery development.

The Odeon Cinema, Cheltenham

Like the Axiom Centre, I am not sure what the future holds for this building but even in poor condition it looks fantastic and it would be great if an imaginative use can found for it that doesn't result in it being demolished to make way for another bland, poorly designed "luxury apartment" development. What can you do with an old cinema? Perhaps it can be attached to a resurrected Axiom centre somehow to form a huge artspace etc...!!!

Detail showing the two silver painted bas-refief nymphs.

Here are some links to sites about the cinema with much more info and pictures both before and after it's closure.

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php/10329-Odeon-Cinema-Cheltenham-07-03-07

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php/39396-Odeon-Cheltenham-March-April-2009

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php/55613-Odeon-Cinema-Cheltenham-Nov-2010

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/17447

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/17447/comments

Forthcoming Exhibitions

Some of my paintings will be featuring in two group exhibitions in Cheltenham in the coming weeks.

Starting on Friday 23rd November at CentreArts running until December 8th and also the Cheltenham Group of Artists 2012 Winter exhibition at the Parabola Arts Centre from 7th-15th December.

Nic Pehkonen, Leckhampton Hill, Acrylic on canvas, 2003

For further details/opening times etc please visit;

http://www.centrearts.co.uk

http://www.facebook.com/CentreArts

http://cheltenhamgroupartists.org

http://www.parabolaartscentre.co.uk/what-s-on-theatre-and-events/

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Bristol Architecture - Part 2

Here are a few more nice examples of concrete architecture in Bristol that have caught my eye. 

The Shot Tower (or the Sheldon Bush and Patent Shot Company Limited Shot Tower) is probably one of Bristol's most distinctive structures. Situated just off Passage Street it is one of very few shot towers still in existence today.

The Shot Tower, Bristol

This tower dates from around 1969, replacing the original tower which stood on the same site. Bristol is in fact the birthplace of this method of lead shot manufacture. The process was invented by William Watts in the latter part of the 18th century which may be one of the reasons this particular version is now grade 2 listed (although it is now part of an office complex). For those who are interested, there is lots more info readily available on the internet about this and other towers (and shot manufacture in general). Otherwise, just enjoy looking at this fabulous construction.

The 12-sided top part of the tower.

Another striking building is the office block at 1 Redcliffe Street. Although not a cube, it has a satisfying cube-like appearance from some vantage points, slightly rounded window tops to offset the squareness of the structure and a wonderful, open colonnade running around the top level.

1 Redcliffe Street, Bristol

Another number 1. This time, 1 Temple Way which I think is still the home of The Bristol Evening Post. This is a lovely 1970s construction of brick, concrete and glass, full of visual interest with satisfying forms, curves, angles and textures.

1 Temple Way, Bristol

I have found an interesting piece about the building on another blog which goes into more detail and documents it's partial demolition a few years ago. 

http://eugenebyrne.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/half-of-evening-post-building-to-be-demolished/

Concrete Pillar.

I love the textures and patterns left behind when the concrete has set and the boards have been removed. It is an amazing material.

Concrete pillar (detail).

One last photo for now. Norfolk House, near the fire station. It was a nice day and the combination of the sun hitting the pale concrete wall with the satisfyingly 1970s black lettering along the bottom right hand edge really caught my eye.

Norfolk House, Bristol.

Bristol Architecture

Although it now has a high-rise neighbour (The Eclipse), Castlemead Tower is still a commanding presence in the city centre and a lovely example of 1970s concrete architecture.

As you approach the city centre from the M32, along Newfoundland Way, it seems for a while that you are heading straight for the building (until you reach the Bond Street junction and turn away).

Castlemead Tower, Bristol

At 80m, I thought it was also the tallest building in Bristol although Wikipedia places St. Mary Redcliffe in the No.1 spot at 89m. It's height appears further accentuated due to the exterior concrete panels rising up in unbroken vertical lines from the first floor. When viewed from a distance it also gives the impression of a building that is coming up out of the ground.

Castlemead Tower from Castle Park

The distinctive projections around the top of the building are suggestive of the overhanging machicolations that were a feature of medieval castle construction (although in this case there are no openings for dropping things onto people underneath).

Concrete projections at roof level.

Here is a photo of Raglan Castle (Not far away over the Welsh border) so you can see what I am thinking of.

Raglan Castle

However, despite the apparent lack of facilities for dropping things from the top, there was an incident last year where a man entered the building, started smashing things up inside and then threw a load of office equipment out of a 10th or 11th floor window.

Here is a link to the story as it was reported at the time.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Bad-day-office-Bristol-workers-run-cover-man/story-13938649-detail/story.html

Looks good from just about every angle.

Car Park Architecture - Part 2

I have been in Bristol a couple of days a week of late and my various routes from Temple Meads have taken me past a number of fantastic examples of concrete architecture which have included the NCP multi-storey car park on Lower Castle Street in Broadmead.

Broadmead multi-storey car park, Lower Castle Street, Bristol

Although flanked on either side by the much bigger Castlemead tower and Marriott Hotel, it nonetheless holds its own architecturally and in fact all three buildings sit satisfying well together. (I will include more on Castlemead Tower in a future post).

Castlemead Tower, Broadmead car park and The Marriott hotel.

I especially like the way the designers employed a split-level construction with this building. Multi-storey car parks usually seem to be built in continuous horizontal layers so perhaps the sloping terrain here led towards this particular architectural solution. Or maybe the designers just fancied trying something different to mirror the slope of the street. Either way, it resulted in giving the whole structure an additional vertical dynamism, a bit like a fault line on a rock face.

Broadmead multi-storey car park facade

A closer inspection reveals that each layer has nicely bevelled-off edges and corners which gives the impression that the two sections are just about to interlock with each other.

Close-up of the nicely designed concrete edges of the parking decks.

Although this is not a plug for National Car Parks, I also happen to think that the NCP logo is a great piece of design in its own right and the contrast between the black on yellow signage and concrete car park walls is visually always very satisfying.

The NCP logo always stands out well.

Referring back to an earlier post on Bristol car parks, I have recently come across a short  Pathé news film from 1961, showcasing the brand new (as it was then) Rupert Street multi-storey car park.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/multi-deck-garage

Broadway Nuclear Bunker

On Saturday I visited the Royal Observer Corps underground monitoring post (or Broadway Nuclear Bunker as it is more excitingly called) on one of it's occasional open days.

The ROC monitoring site as seen through the perimeter fence

Although it was removed from active service in 1991 the site was subsequently revived under the management of Broadway Tower and has been open to visitors since 2010. 

The access shaft hatch with the white Ground Zero Indicator for
determining the position of a nuclear detonation. 

The fenced site is situated in the corner of a field very near Broadway Tower and also includes the now roofless remains of the original above ground observation post which I believe dates from the Second World War.

Looking down the access shaft

The bunker itself is in great condition and the visit was further enhanced by a brief talk from an ex-member of the Observer Corps which gave a fascinating insight into the operation of these bunkers during the Cold War. 

Looking up the access shaft

Much of the original equipment was already in place but some items have been re-introduced and added to make it as complete as possible.

What a fully equipped bunker would have looked like.

The role of the bunkers was essentially to determine the position of nuclear explosions and gather data on the initial blast and also the radiation levels following a bomb drop.

Close-up of the BPI (Bomb Power Indicator) for
determining the approximate size of a nuclear blast.

At the height of the Cold War there were nearly 1600 of these small bunkers situated at 8 mile intervals across the UK in a grid-like formation so most of us are never more than a few miles from a ROC site. However many have since been destroyed and those that do remain are in varying states of decay and inaccessibility, so the Broadway bunker is probably one of the few remaining maintained and accessible examples in the country.

In the event of a fire inside the bunker
an asbestos fire blanket was supplied.

This was the last listed public open day for this year but for information regarding private functions and future open days you can visit the Broadway Tower website

The ROC site as seen from the top of Broadway Tower.

For more details on the history and workings of these bunkers I would recommend 2 books - 
Cold War Secret Nuclear Bunkers by Nick McCamley published by Pen & Sword and also Cold War - Building for Nuclear Confrontation 1946-1989 by Wayne D Cocroft and Roger JC Thomas published by English Heritage

Above ground elements of the FSM meter (foreground)
for measuring above ground radioactivity with the BPI (bomb power indicator) behind 

If (like me) you are more interested in the visual appeal of concrete bunkers, then Nick Catford's "Subterranean Britain - Cold War Bunkers" published by Folly Books is the book for you.

To finish - a view from Broadway Tower

and just one more...

Heritage Open Days

The National Heritage Open Days scheme will be running from tomorrow and over the weekend (6th - 9th September) so why not take a look at their website to see what is going on in your area and take the opportunity to visit places and buildings not normally open to the public.

The website can be found at http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/

Last year I went up the Eagle Tower in Cheltenham which is open again for one day although I think you need to book in advance this year.

Eagle Tower, Cheltenham

I also happened to hear a short piece about it this morning on the radio which also drew attention to the possibility that the scheme may at risk of funding cuts in the future which is not good.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9749000/9749006.stm

Car Park Architecture

If you are a lover of concrete architecture then multi-storey car parks don't often disappoint in terms of their visual appeal. There is something hugely satisfying about the way their visible external construction contrasts with the seemingly dark voids of the open interior.

Here are a couple of fantastic examples that I photographed recently in Bristol.

Prince Street multi storey car park, Bristol

With it's amazing concrete lattice work exterior and V-shaped supports, The Prince Street car park is surely one of the most striking buildings in Bristol. With one side of it on a wide road and the opposite side facing directly onto the waterfront it is well placed to be viewed and enjoyed from a variety of angles.

Wow! Not one but two different kinds of lattice work.

A closer view of this amazing facade

and a more detailed view

The Rupert Street car park dates from 1960 (I think) and looks very graceful in appearance with it's six layers and spiralling, fan-like construction.

Rupert Street multi storey car park, Bristol

Nicely angled straight edges giving an overall curved effect

Here you can appreciate how the building seems to fan out from the centre.

I will try and photograph more car parks as and when I can as I think they often get overlooked in terms of architectural merit given that we mostly just want to park our cars as quickly as possible so we can get on with other things. Perhaps it is this ultra functional purpose that often leads architects to come up with such interesting and imaginative designs...

If you feel the need for a nicely illustrated book about car parks I would recommend "The Architecture of Parking" by Simon Henley published by Thames and Hudson. 

Simon Henley, The Architecture of Parking, 2007, Thames & Hudson

In addition to some amazing photographs and well researched text, he also includes many architectural drawings and diagrams which add extra interest to the subject.